Our Leadership Team

Arthur P. Steinmetz:

Chairman, CEO and President

Art Steinmetz is Chairman, CEO and President of OppenheimerFunds. Since joining the firm in 1986, Art has held a number of positions over his 30-year tenure, including Chief Investment Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Fixed Income. Art was named President in 2013, CEO in 2014, and in 2015, his role was further expanded to include Chairman.

Throughout his career, Art has taken a key role in expanding and strengthening OppenheimerFunds’ capabilities. In 1989, he created and launched one of the first multi-sector bond funds in the industry, Oppenheimer Global Strategic Income Fund, which he managed for 25 years until being named CEO. As the Fund’s manager, Art was nominated for Morningstar’s Fixed Income Manager of the Year in 2007. As the firm’s Chief Investment Officer, Art led the effort to acquire SteelPath in 2012, offering innovative investments in energy infrastructure through Master Limited Partnerships, and also worked to deepen the firm’s bond management strategies. In 2015, he led the acquisition of VTL Associates’ RevenueShares, bringing the firm into the Smart Beta space. Art began his career as an Analyst at PaineWebber, and also served in the United States Air Force.

Additionally, Art is passionate about advancing financial and mathematical literacy, which he believes are essential elements of the next generation’s success. He plays an active role in shaping OppenheimerFunds’ philanthropic initiatives and serves on the Board of Trustees of the National Museum of Mathematics (MoMath) in New York City. In 2015, he was named “Man of the Year” by The YWCA of the City of New York for his efforts in promoting STEM education among girls and minorities.

Art is a Partner at the Partnership for New York City and a Member of the Economic Club of New York.

Art holds an M.B.A. in finance from Columbia Business School and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Denison University with a B.A. in Russian language and Slavic Studies.

Ahmad Deek:

Chief Risk Officer

Ahmad Deek serves as the firm’s Chief Risk Officer. He is responsible for leading OppenheimerFunds’ risk management function and enhancing its corporate governance structure. Prior to joining OppenheimerFunds, Deek spent over two decades at Goldman Sachs where he most recently served as Managing Director, Senior Risk Officer in the Investment Management Division. He also held several roles within their Prime Brokerage, Equities, and Fixed Income Securities Divisions. Deek began his career in 1993 at Mentor Graphics as a Development Engineer.

Andy has been with the company since 2009, originally as head of Compensation, Benefits and Technology. Before he joined OppenheimerFunds, Andy led Rewards and Information Services for Global Wealth Management at Merrill Lynch. During his ten years at Merrill Lynch, Andy served in a variety of roles, most notably as head of Human Resources for the Pacific Rim Region, based in Tokyo. Before Merrill Lynch, he worked as an international HR planning specialist with Toshiba Corporation in Tokyo.

Andy also serves on the Advisory Board for Bacharach Leadership Group, a consulting firm that delivers bespoke development programs to enhance the leadership and managerial skills of professionals with high potential. He was an adjunct instructor for the New York University School of Continuing and Professional Studies and served on the Board of Alumni for Cornell University’s School of Industrial and Labor Relations.

Andy earned his B.S. and M.S. degrees in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University.

George R. Evans:

Chief Investment Officer, Equities

George Evans is Chief Investment Officer of Equities for the firm and oversees both the U.S. and international equities teams. He also serves as portfolio manager of the International Growth Strategy and related strategies.

Before joining the firm in 1990, George served for three years as a Securities Analyst and Portfolio Manager in the International Equities Department at Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

George holds a B.A./M.A. from Oxford University and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania, he also holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation.

Sharon French:

Head of Beta Solutions

Sharon French leads the strategy, development, and implementation of the firm’s smart beta products and solutions. In addition, she oversees the Oppenheimer Revenue Weighted Strategy Team.

Sharon joined OppenheimerFunds in 2016 from BNY Mellon, where she was Senior Strategic Advisor to the CEO and President of Investment Management, focusing on ETF and multi-asset business growth. Previously, she served as President of F-Squared Capital. Before that, she was Head of Private Client & Institutions at BlackRock for its iShares business. Sharon spent nearly a decade at AllianceBernstein and held prior roles at mPower, Smith Barney, and Chase Manhattan Bank.

Sharon serves on the Board of Women in ETFs. She holds a B.S. in business management from the University of Delaware, and she obtained her Certified Investment Management Analyst designation from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business.

Cynthia Lo Bessette:

General Counsel

Cynthia Lo Bessette oversees the Legal, Compliance and Internal Audit functions at OppenheimerFunds Inc. and supervises the provision of legal, compliance and audit services to all of the company’s business units.

Cynthia joined OppenheimerFunds in March 2015 as Deputy General Counsel and became General Counsel in February 2016. Before she came to OppenheimerFunds, Cynthia was Deputy Chief Legal Officer at Jennison Associates, an asset management affiliate of Prudential Financial.

Cynthia has extensive experience working with asset management firms investing globally across asset classes and serving a worldwide investor base, including retail and institutional investors. She has broad experience advising global asset managers on strategic transactions and a wide range of legal and compliance, product development, distribution, and portfolio management matters involving U.S. and foreign regulations and local market practices.

Cynthia began her career as an associate in a large law firm and later joined the inhouse Legal Department of Scudder Investments. She then held a series of inhouse legal positions with increasing responsibility at UBS Global Asset Management, Dimensional Fund Advisors, Mercer Investments, and Lord, Abbett & Co.

Cynthia received her law degree from the Fordham University School of Law and received her undergraduate degree, with honors, in East Asian Studies and Economics from The University of Michigan.

John McDonough:

Head of Distribution and Marketing

John McDonough is Head of OppenheimerFunds’ Distribution and Marketing Teams, including Digital Distribution and Innovation. John is responsible for delivering a broad array of investment capabilities to a diverse group of clients that includes financial advisors, small businesses, registered investment advisors, wealth managers, institutional investors and their consultants.

John joined OppenheimerFunds in 1993 as an Internal Wholesaler. Through subsequent positions as an External Wholesaler, National Sales Manager of the Sub-Advisory Channel and National Director of Sales, he learned what it takes to provide the full spectrum of service and support to the firm’s clients, and the importance of keeping them at the center of everything the firm does.

John began his career as a Sales Associate on the Institutional Equity Sales Desk at Goldman Sachs. He earned a B.A. from the University of Richmond and holds a Certificate in International Business Management from Georgetown University. John is also a graduate of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design’s “d.school” at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

John is currently Treasurer for the Investment Management Education Alliance(IMEA, formerly MFEA). He also serves on the Board of Trustees at the Madison Square Boys & Girls Club.

Before joining OppenheimerFunds in 2015, Eric served as Chief Technology Officer at Putnam Investments, where he led the creation and execution of technology strategy for applications, infrastructure and telecommunications. Previously, he served as Head of Applications; Managing Director, Investment Systems and Senior Director, Applications; and Head of Research and Analytic Systems.

Eric began his career as a programmer analyst at Bloomberg LP, and later held a series of positions with increasing responsibility at Bankers Trust Co. of New York; Kidder, Peabody and Co.; Reuters and Deutsche Bank AG.

He has a B.S. in Systems Engineering from Boston University and an M.S. in Operations Research from The George Washington University.

Krishna Memani:

Chief Investment Officer

Krishna Memani serves as the firm’s Chief Investment Officer where he oversees all investment teams; he is also currently the Head of Fixed Income. In addition to his investment leadership roles, Krishna is responsible for the portfolio management of our full suite of investment-grade strategies.

Before he joined the company in 2009, he was a managing director at Deutsche Bank, heading U.S. and European credit analysis. Earlier, he headed global credit research at Credit Suisse; was in charge of high grade and high yield portfolios at Putnam Investments; and was a credit analyst at Morgan Stanley, heading U.S. fixed income strategy and mortgage research.

Krishna earned a Bachelor of Engineering from Birla Institute of Technology and Science in India and graduated from the University of Florida with an M.B.A. in finance and an M.A. in economics with a focus on econometrics.

Prior to joining OppenheimerFunds in October 2013, Peter was with BlackRock, starting as a senior member of the Corporate Strategy group, responsible for working with BlackRock business leaders in the formulation and execution of their strategies, in addition to the firm’s global corporate strategy, vision and corporate M&A. He was also the Regional Head of Strategy and Head of Marketing for Latin America & Iberia, one of BlackRock’s fastest growing businesses.

Before joining BlackRock, Peter worked for McKinsey & Co. in New York, San Francisco and Sao Paulo, with expertise in mergers and acquisitions. During his five-year tenure at McKinsey, Peter led a variety of strategic projects for U.S. and international firms with a significant focus on financial services.

Peter has a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering, and an MBA from Harvard University.

David M. Pfeffer:

Chief Financial Officer

David Pfeffer oversees the company’s Corporate Accounting, Business Group Controllers, Treasury, Planning and Analysis, Fund Accounting, Tax and Accounts Payable departments. He is an independent Director of ICI Mutual.

David joined OppenheimerFunds in February 2004 and has been involved in financial services for more than 25 years. Before coming to the firm, he was Chief Financial Officer and Director of Citigroup Asset Management’s institutional and retail international businesses. Before that, he spent 16 years at J.P. Morgan, most notably as Controller of J.P. Morgan Investment Management in New York and Chief Financial Officer and Director of J.P. Morgan Brazil in São Paulo. He started his career in public accounting at Ernst & Whinney.

David holds a B.S. in accounting from the University of Delaware. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a member of the American Institute of CPAs.

This material is provided for general and educational purposes only, is not intended to provide legal or tax advice, and is not for use to avoid penalties that may be imposed under U.S. federal tax laws. OppenheimerFunds is not undertaking to provide impartial investment advice or to provide advice in a fiduciary capacity. Contact your attorney or other advisor regarding your specific legal, investment or tax situation.

OFI Global Asset Management (“OFI Global”) consists of OppenheimerFunds, Inc. and certain of its advisory subsidiaries, including OFI Global Asset Management, Inc., OFI Global Institutional Inc., OFI SteelPath Inc., OFI Global Trust Company, SNW Asset Management, LLC and OFI Advisors, LLC. The firm offers a full range of investment solutions across equity, fixed income and alternative asset classes. The views herein represent the opinions of OFI Global and are subject to change based on subsequent developments. They are not intended as investment advice or to predict or depict the performance of any investment. The material contained herein is not intended to provide, and should not be relied on for, investment, accounting, legal or tax advice. Further, this material does not constitute a recommendation to buy, sell, or hold any security. No offer or solicitation for the sale of any security or financial instrument is made hereby.

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